Walking While Working

I have joined the ranks of the “work walkers” — I now have a treadmill in my office.  The walking while working movement was started by Dr. James Levine of the Mayo clinic.  His basic premise is that NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis) is more important that regular excercise.  One way to trigger NEAT is to walk while you work. More info is also at http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2005-rst/2836.html.

So I acquired a treadmill and built up a desk for myself so that I can walk while working on my computer.  With the number of meetings that I have every day, the number of hours I actually spend doing this will vary, but at least I won’t be sitting on my rear end while I’m in my office.  FWIW, I am actualy an exercise fiend these days — I work out 5 days a week, including both cardio and weight training.  (Today, for example, I did a one hour indoor cycling class.)  But I think this will be fun and I’m looking forward to the other benefits of this activity, including better focus and concentration.

This picture is what my office looks like with the treadmill.  It’s hard to see the treadmill in this photo because it’s directly behind my desk chair. I built the desk around the treadmill and you can see my computers off to the side.

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The next photo has the chair moved out of the way so you can see the treadmill itself.

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The next photos are close-ups of my desktop (without the laptop).

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And one of me on the treadmill …

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